LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Eastern Oregon University Athletic Department and the Union County CASA are bringing the Harlem Ambassadors basketball team to La Grande Monday.
The Ambassadors are a professional traveling basketball show that provides a fresh, family-friendly community entertainment. Since 1998, Harlem Ambassadors, Inc. has partnered with hundreds of non-profit organizations in all 50 states and 19 foreign countries.
"We are very happy to be a title sponsor for the CASA-Harlem Ambassador event,” Eastern Director of Athletics Rob Cashell said. “It is a great opportunity for our department and EOU to be civic minded and provide assistance to such a worthy cause"
The mission of the Harlem Ambassadors is to deliver a quality basketball show to our audiences throughout the United States and internationally. The show is designed to be fun for customers of all ages, with youngsters being awed for the first time and older folks enjoying the tried-and-true gags like a rerun of a favorite comedy movie. The Ambassadors' operation is professional in all aspects. In addition to having a wholesome family entertainment product, we are also good citizens and willing role models for youth, promoting the values of staying in school, staying off drugs and fostering racial harmony.
The Harlem Ambassadors Professional Show Basketball team was conceived in October 1997 by Dale Moss. Moss combined an extensive career in professional sports management and marketing with an entrepreneurial desire to create the Harlem Ambassadors concept.
During the history of the Ambassadors, the team has made multiple foreign tours. Included in the list of nations and overseas territories that the Ambassadors have visited are Canada, Germany, England, Iceland, Macedonia (FYROM), Bosnia, Kosovo, Hungary, Korea, Japan, Cuba (Guantanamo Bay Naval Station), Puerto Rico, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, Palau, and French Polynesia (Tahiti).
Beginning in the 2002-03 season, a second touring unit was spun off. Today, at any given point in the season, there are two Harlem Ambassadors' units performing in different parts of the country. The group performing primarily east of the Mississippi is designated as the "Red, White, and Blue" unit, while the western touring squad in called the "Stars and Stripes" unit. Between the two units, the Harlem Ambassadors performed 209 events and 94 "Stay in School, Stay off Drugs" youth programs during the 2008-09 season.
The Ambassadors are making five stops in Oregon this week before moving onto Idaho next. La Grande will be the 83rd stop for the tour since beginning the season in mid-September. EOU President Bob Davies and Mountaineer Men’s Basketball Head Coach Isaac Williams will be playing for the CASA Crusaders against the Ambassadors along with David Eddy, Rick Dall, Craig Braseth, Larry Glaze, Brian Harvey, Michelle Bell, Tim Thompson, Ben Morgan, Karin Tsiatsos, Tom Insko, Oden Miller and John Mallory.
The Union County CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) program trains and supports volunteer advocates for abused and neglected children so that they can thrive in safe, permanent homes. The CASA volunteers lovingly serve the children of Union County, Oregon.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in Quinn Coliseum on the EOU campus on Monday. Advanced tickets are available at the Eastern Oregon University bookstore. Tickets will be $9 at the door of the event.